I’ve officially been here for over two weeks! And holy hell have I been stressed.
If you know me you know that I am both very lazy and very motivated. When I have my mind set to something, I HAVE to get it done. This week I was motivated, but it felt like nothing got done no matter how much energy I put into it. But I’ll place my focus on other things since we all have enough stress in our lives.
Making friends.
One of the first things I did after moving into my apartment was download some apps in hopes to meet people. One of them was a language app. The goal was to meet people in the area to converse in English/Spanish, but I had 50+ messages within 10 minutes and almost all of them were men. I attempted to chat with the ladies, but ultimately ended up removing the app.
The next app I downloaded was Bumble. It felt weird to download, but my sister (shout-out Kylieeee) mentioned there was a feature to search for friends instead of romantic interests. So I downloaded it and matched with about a dozen girls. So far I have met two: One girl, from Germany, at the beach, and another girl, from Valencia, at the park. Both were very friendly and I have been keeping in touch with them. Tomorrow, I am meeting a girl from Italy for a game of Padel. Wish me luck!
First day of work.
My first day of work went well, but it was a long day. First, I had to leave at 7:30am to make the train at 8:20, and then I had 20 minutes of spare time before I started at 9am. Second, I am dealing with 6-12 year olds. While I am good with young kids, I definitely prefer to work with older kids. Since it was my first day, I pretty much just watched the teacher teach, which was very draining since she spoke primarily in spanish. If you’ve ever learned a language, you know how draining it is to translate for extended periods. Then, after work the train left before I could get to it, so I had to wait 45 minutes for the next one. Luckily I brought my headphones and had Twilight to listen to.
I also had a bit of culture shock my first day of work. I don’t normally get culture shock, but listening to the teacher yell at the kids in Spanish and having all the teachers greet me with kisses definitely did it!
Exploring the City.
I wanted to get all my documents done before I allowed myself to really enjoy the city, but I do walk La Turia (a large park) every night–I am blessed to live very close to it. I’ve also taken a bus to the historic part of town, but only walked around a little bit. Food wise, I’ve been cooking my own meals every night but I should treat myself to some Spanish food soon. My bumble friend also suggested I get a bike pass for 7 euros a month since the city is very bike friendly. Definitely going to look into it.
Stress:
When I signed my lease, I didn’t know what an Empadronamiento (registering at an address) was or that I needed it. Turns out my apartment doesn’t allow it, so I have been trying to get the city to override it (as Reddit advised me to do). But it isn’t working. I have been to the city hall 5 times and spent over 9 hours sitting in line with no progress. Eventually I asked my roommate about it and he said there was a loophole. I had to find someone who owns their home/apartment and get them to add me to their address. So that’s what I am trying to do now–wish me luck.
So while I end this week stressed, I am also ending it with two more friends; three if you count my roommate. Stay tuned for my next blog post about Spain. Hopefully I’ll be less stressed.
